Expectations vary wildly among the California teams ahead of the 2026 MLB Season.
The Dodgers are in a class of their own as a ridiculous +250 favorite to three-peat as World Series champions. No other team is in the single digits.
The Padres are in the middle of the pack at 35/1, but they are a pick’em to make the playoffs, suggesting that it’s tough to get a read on the Friars in 2026.
The Giants are a long shot at 60/1, but they’ve got competitive odds to make the postseason, and it’s anybody’s guess how the club sails under the guidance of Tony Vitello, the first manager to ever make the jump straight from college to the bigs.
The Angels, well, they’re a write-off. The Halos are 250/1 to win the World Series and have been tagged with an Over/Under of 70.5 wins, the second-lowest in the American League.
With expectations all over the map, there’s no single way to bet these teams. The value lies in picking your spots, whether that means riding one of the stars on a powerhouse or taking a swing on upside where the market is sleeping.
Dodgers: Yoshinobu Yamamoto to lead the MLB in wins (20/1, DraftKings)
Only one pitcher (Paul Skenes) has shorter odds to win the NL Cy Young Award than Yamamoto, so you’d expect that the Japanese superstar would be one of the favorites in this market, too.
That isn’t the case.
Nine players have better odds to pace the MLB in wins in 2026, and none of them pitch for the best team in baseball.
It doesn’t add up.
And if you think this is a case of the market being concerned about the Dodgers handling Yamamoto with kid gloves, they took the training wheels off last year, sending the 27-year-old out for 30 starts and 173 ⅔ innings.
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Padres: Mason Miller to win the Cy Young (100/1, bet365)
It’s been 23 years since a reliever (Eric Gagne) has won the Cy Young Award, but Miller’s stuff makes it possible that we see that drought come to an end.
The Pittsburgh native has struck out 43.1 percent of the batters he’s faced since being converted to a reliever full-time in 2025, and FanGraphs projects that number to actually tick up north of 45 percent in 2026.
If Miller hits his ceiling, or even comes close, his numbers could be out of this world.
Giants: Tony Vitello to win NL Manager of the Year (14/1, BetMGM)
Here’s the secret about Manager of the Year: It’s an award built on romance.
The Baseball Writers of America usually hand this award to the team that surprises the most, or at the very least, puts together a successful season against the odds.
The Giants have every chance of doing that, and it also helps us that their manager has a compelling backstory.
Put it this way. If the Giants make the playoffs in Tony Vitello’s first season at the helm, he’s going to be on plenty of ballots. They are +190 to get into the dance. Vitello is 7x that price to win the NL Manager of the Year.
Which ticket would you prefer to be holding?
Angels: Jo Adell to win AL MVP (250/1, Caesars)
There was a lot to love about Jo Adell’s breakout 2025 campaign, but the best may yet to come for the center fielder.
Once projected as one of baseball’s best prospects, Adell took off in 2025 with 37 home runs and 98 RBIs. More encouraging than that is his batted-ball data, which was off the charts.
Only five players average more barrels per plate appearance than Adell, and only three had a higher average bat speed.
If Adell can find a way to make a little more contact, he will slug his way into the MVP conversation.
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
